ALBERT

Description: A fragmentary nerineoid gastropod collected from the Maasvlakte 2 beach may be identified as Ptygmatis cf. bruntrutana (Thurmann, 1832). Probably originating from Upper Jurassic strata in north-eastern France, it must have been transported here by a forerunner of the River Meuse (Maas).

Description: New records of rare water mites mostly from interstitial habitat of New Zealand are presented. One new genus, Zelandostygolimnochares n. gen. (Piersigiidae) with the type species Z. curtipalpis n. sp. is described. Zelandobates occidentalis Smit & Pešić, 2020 is synonymized with Z. tongariro Smit & Pešić, 2020. The male is for the first time described for Zelandotonia orion Cook, 1992, and the female is for the first time described for Aciculacarus amalis Cook, 1983. New records of a number of rare species are presented.

Description: In the present paper, the existence and location of the type series of the Japanese dancing mouse or waltzer, Mus wagneri variety rotans Droogleever Fortuyn, 1912, are established, and a lectotype is designated. Available type specimens are measured, and some morphological parameters, sex, and general condition of the specimens are recorded. A literature survey was conducted, and an attempt is made to clarify the position of M. wagneri variety rotans in the taxonomy of Mus. A genetic analysis suggests that the type series of the Japanese dancing mouse represent a crossbred, or derivation of a crossbred, between the original Japanese dancing mouse of Mus musculus molossinus Temminck 1844 origin and European fancy or laboratory mice of Mus musculus domesticus Schwarz & Schwarz, 1943 origin. Much of their genome was replaced and occupied by Mus musculus domesticus type genome, probably through extensive breeding with European mice.

Description: Type material of some South American species in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, belonging to different families is documented. It includes 16 species: Bulimus cuneus L. Pfeiffer, 1854, Bulimus proteus Broderip, 1832, Bulimus scalarioides L. Pfeiffer, 1867, Bulimus similaris J. Moricand, 1856, Andinia (Ehrmanniella) dedicata Weyrauch & Zilch, 1954, Helix hettneriana E. von Martens, 1897, Eurycampta hidalgonis Döring, 1877, Helix aequatoris L. Pfeiffer, 1860, Helix bituberculata L. Pfeiffer, 1853, Helix bourcieri L. Pfeiffer, 1853, Helix neogranadensis L. Pfeiffer, 1845, Cyclostoma (Cyclophorus) bourcieri L. Pfeiffer, 1854, and Helix platygyra Albers, 1857. The concept of the “salvation” of type material is explained.

Description: Here we report a well-preserved isolated physeteroid tooth of Late Miocene age from Liessel, the Netherlands. The presence of several morphological features allows attribution to the macroraptorial physeteroids. Size and morphology are to some extent comparable to Zygophyseter and almost identical to the primarily tooth-based Tortonian taxon Scaldicetus caretti. However, the genus Scaldicetus was declared unutilizable, which is supported here with an overview of modern classifications of Scaldicetus species and specimens. Despite the restrictions, the type species S. caretti is still valid, although the name is to be restricted to the type material. Based on its morphological resemblance, the tooth is identified as Physeteroidea indet. cf. Scaldicetus caretti.

Description: The genus Micronecta Kirkaldy, 1897 is the most species-rich genus in the family Micronectidae, containing more than 160 species. Micronecta is currently divided into 11 subgenera, five of which are monotypic. Moreover, the subgenus Micronecta is an empirical mixture group. The definitions of some subgenera were based on only a few aberrant morphological features, which are specializations with few phylogenetic significances. The relationship between these subgenera remains unclear. In this study, we newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) and nuclear rDNAs (nrDNAs) for 13 Micronecta species, representing seven subgenera, and those for ten other water bugs. Our phylogenetic analyses showed that the subgenus Lundbladella represents the sister group to all other studied subgenera of Micronecta. The subgenus Unguinecta was the sister group to the clade that contains Dichaetonecta and Sigmonecta. More importantly, the subgenus Micronecta represents a paraphyletic group, which further forms a monophyletic group together with the subgenera Basileonecta and Ctenonecta. This is for the first time that the phylogeny of the genus Micronecta was investigated based on molecular data and the paraphyly of the subgenus Micronecta was revealed. Such evidence suggested the necessity of the revision of the taxonomic system of the genus in the future, and may also serve as a reference for the delimitation of subgeneric characters.

Description: Climate change and land cover change often interactively affect plant species distributions. This study addresses the vulnerability of lowland and upland orchids to climate change and land cover change. Endemic orchids of New Guinea were grouped into four classes (lowland epiphyte, lowland terrestrial, upland epiphyte, upland terrestrial) based on their life form and elevation range. Forty occurrence records of endemic orchids were selected for each class, totaling 160 occurrence records. Ensemble modelling combining two machine learning algorithms was used to generate predictive current and future suitable areas for orchid classes. Model performance was evaluated using the AUC and TSS metrics. Suitable areas for both lowland and upland orchids (epiphyte and terrestrial) were predicted decrease in the future due to climate change and land cover change. The loss of suitable areas for upland terrestrial orchids was predicted to be most significant in the worst-case climate change scenario (SSP 5–8.5). Both lowland and upland orchids (epiphyte and terrestrial) tend to shift to higher elevation ranges from the present distributions. The predictive models have AUC values 〉0.90 and TSS value 〉0.80, indicating the models have excellent potential for predicting the impact of climate change and land cover change on orchid distributions.

Description: Snakebite envenoming is a priority Neglected Tropical Disease that causes an estimated 81,000–135,000 fatalities each year. The development of a new generation of safer, affordable, and accessible antivenom therapies is urgently needed. With this goal in mind, rigorous characterisation of the specific toxins in snake venom is key to generating novel therapies for snakebite. Monoclonal antibodies directed against venom toxins are emerging as potentially strong candidates in the development of new snakebite diagnostics and treatment. Venoms comprise many different toxins of which several are responsible for their pathological effects. Due to the large variability of venoms within and between species, formulations of combinations of human antibodies are proposed as the next generation antivenoms. Here a high-throughput screening method employing antibody-based ligand fishing of venom toxins in 384 filter-well plate format has been developed to determine the antibody target/s The approach uses Protein G beads for antibody capture followed by exposure to a full venom or purified toxins to bind their respective ligand toxin(s). This is followed by a washing/centrifugation step to remove non-binding toxins and an in-well tryptic digest. Finally, peptides from each well are analysed by nanoLC-MS/MS and subsequent Mascot database searching to identify the bound toxin/s for each antibody under investigation. The approach was successfully validated to rapidly screen antibodies sourced from hybridomas, derived from venom-immunised mice expressing either regular human antibodies or heavy-chain-only human antibodies (HCAbs).

Description: European marbled newts come in two species that have abutting ranges. The northern species, Triturus marmoratus, is found in France and the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, whereas the southern species, T. pygmaeus, is found in the southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. We study the intraspecific genetic differentiation of the group because morphological data show geographical variation and because the Iberian Peninsula is a recognized center of speciation and intraspecific genetic diversity for all kinds of organisms, amphibians included. We use target enrichment by sequence capture to generate c. 7 k nuclear DNA markers. We observe limited genetic exchange between the species, which confirms their distinctiveness. Both species show substantial genetic structuring that is only in part mirrored by morphological variation. Genetically differentiated groups are found in the south (T. marmoratus) and west (T. pygmaeus) of the species ranges. Our observations highlight the position of the Iberian Peninsula as a hotspot for genetic differentiation.

Description: The invasive alien false mussels Mytilopsis leucophaeata cochleata and Dreissena polymorpha (Dreissenidae) have established populations in the North Sea canal in the Netherlands that connects the harbours of Amsterdam with the North Sea. The favourable and unfavourable salinity ranges of both species were earlier studied in long-term outdoor mesocosm experiments. Their occurrence in salinity gradients in estuaries or canals connecting seaways to freshwater harbours provides information on their salinity tolerance under field conditions. By the combination of laboratory experiments and field data using the same source population a high predictability can be expected for establishment of the gradients facilitated by constructions. The reliability of experimentally derived salinity-tolerance limits for both dreissenid species was tested using data on their distribution in a salinity gradient of the littoral zone along the North Sea canal. The mussels used for the survival experiments in mesocosms were also collected from this canal. Favourable salinity ranges for adult survival in the mesocosms were 0.2 – 17.5 for M. leucophaeata cochleata and 0.2 – 6.0 for D. polymorpha. Unfavourable salinities were outside these ranges and led to high and fast mortality of these species. Mytilopsis leucophaeata cochleata was present over nearly the whole length of the North Sea canal with the highest densities close to the sea sluices where also the highest salinities and water temperatures were measured. Their densities in the canal decreased gradually at larger distances from the sea. Dreissena polymorpha co-exists with M. leucophaeata cochleata at the east end of the canal with low salinity due to the influence of freshwater of the river Rhine. The occurrence of D. polymorpha was restricted to a salinity below 4 and M. leucophaeata cochleata only occurred at a salinity above 1.5 (maximum value measured in the canal 9.2). Shorter salinity gradients with lower salinity ranges provided additional information on the co-existence of both species. Co-existence was observed at a salinity range of 1.5–3.3 (own data), 1.0–3.5 (Van Couwelaar and Van Dijk 1989), both in the North Sea canal, and 0.2–2.8, in the Canal through Voorne (Janssen and Janssen-Kruit 1967). These data correspond with studies of both species by Walton (1996) in the Hudson River (salinity range 0–3). Found salinity ranges in the North Sea canal for both species match with the tolerance results obtained by mesocosm experiments. A new invading dreissenid mussel Dreissena rostriformis bugensis and a mytilid Ischadium recurvum occur in the North Sea canal since 2006 and 2012, respectively. Competition between recent and earlier invaders is likely when salinity tolerances are similar. It has already been observed that D. rostriformis bugensis outcompetes D. polymorpha under freshwater conditions (Bij de Vaate et al. 2014; Matthews et al. 2014). Ischadium recurvum has the potential to colonize large parts of the canal and to be a strong competitor of M. leucophaeata cochleata (Goud et al. 2019). Since January 2022, the new ‘Zeesluis IJmuiden’ with the biggest locks in the world is in use, affecting the probability of population establishment of new introduced and invasive alien mussel species.